Post by chilled on Mar 20, 2004 21:22:21 GMT -5
Shocking Saturday
By: Bill Reeseman
By: Bill Reeseman
Shocking Saturday? Well there wasn’t many upsets in the first round by today there has been upsets galore! Not only did the number 2 seed Gonzaga Bulldogs get beat by 19 points by Nevada, but number 1 seed Stanford got beat by number 8 seed Alabama.
This is what March Madness is all about. Teams that you never knew coming into the tournament upsetting the big name teams we all have down on our bracket. A local sports fan said.
After being doubted in the tournament Nevada put on the Cinderella slipper taking the role Gonzaga had a few years ago. While the players on Gonzagas bench stood watching the game amazed. The Wolf Pack fans chanted “Sweet 16, Sweet 16!” After being up by 15 points going into half time the Nevada Wolf Pack players new that all they had to do was do there thing and they could beat anyone. Keeping the Zags from making a come back run, but Nevada held on for the shocking win!
The Wolf Pack realized there dream was becoming a reality when they led by as many as twenty points in the first half and just held onto that dream as long as they could. The loss snapped a Gonzaga school record of 21 straight wins throughout this season. Nevada has made the trip to the Big Dance for the first time in 19 years and was just one of three double-digit seeds to advance to the next round.
It is the eighth straight season that at least one number ten seed advanced to the round of sixteen. Since 1999 tenth seeded teams a 8 and 3 against number two seeds!
In another upset today the Stanford Cardinals faced off with the Alabama Crimson Tide. Just like Nevada no one gave them a chance at pulling off the upset over the higher ranked seed. But all they had to do was believe in themselves and that’s what they did.
The Tide was one of those teams that had a tough regular season schedule. But that is what made them better. That is what gave them the edge. What’s the use of playing cup cake teams in the regular season. You got to prepare your team for the type of teams they will face come tournament time! – A sports fan stated.
The Crimson Tide had to put up with the likes of Pittsburgh, Providence, Wisconsin in out of conference play and even in conference they got zero break, by playing Kentucky, and Mississippi State twice!
After being down two going into the half, the coach got his team prepared to go in and do battle for twenty more minutes and that’s exactly what they did. Although they got off to a poor start in the second half they came back strong and took the lead with under two minutes left.
Missing two key free throws at the end of the game was bad for the Crimson Tide also leaving the Stanford Cardinals down by three with five seconds left. They took the ball up court and got it into there shooters hands but he missed it just short and the Crimson Tide pulled off the first upset over a number one seed this year.
In a game that may have not of been so much of an upset. ACC Champion Maryland faced off with number five seed and defending National Champion Syracuse, and the Orangemen where not ready to give up that title just yet.
Nearly blowing a sixteen point lead the Orangemen hung on for a 72-70 win after Strawberry took it to the lane and missed a runner, but got the rebound with a second left but missed the put-back to send it into overtime.
McNamara wasn’t up to his first round performance but it is tough to follow a 43 point performance. In the first half he went zero for five from the floor and zero for four from down town. He managed to finish with thirteen points.
Although there were some major upsets today some of the higher seeded teams did manage to hold on and advance to the sweet sixteen.
After upsetting the number five seed Florida, Manhattan looked to keep the unbelievable season rolling with another upset victory over three seed Georgia Tech. But the yellow jackets managed to hold on and make them not an upset victim pulling it out 84-80.
Some people say that St. Joes should not be a number one seed, some say they will not last past the sweet sixteen. But they survived a scare today from the eight seed Texas Tech. Tech managed to tie up the game but the Cinderella season of St. Joes is still in the making and they are still looking to prove all the critics wrong.
This is only the first day for the second round and the sound of paper shredders are in the air. Whether you filled out a bracket just for fun, or if you are slapping yourself up-side your head for making a stupid pick in an office bracket you filled out, you have to agree with me that this is the best time of the year for any sports fan. Besides the Super Bowl, this is the medias dream come true, so many stories to print, and so little space!
That’s all for me for this week. See you all next week![/b]
